A Small Rant About The Abuse Of Calendars
Wednesdays are simplicity days at SimpleProductivity blog.
One of the things that I take issue with is the abuse of calendars.
Calendars are meant for date specific commitments between one or more people, with or without a time.
Calendars are not for holding to-do lists, planning, taking notes or recording history.
I know that David Allen says that anything that has to be done on a given day needs to be on the calendar. I disagree whole-heartedly.
We do not work from calendars. We work from task lists.
Calendars are a reference tool designed to allow us to see blocks of time.
Putting tasks on the calendar muddies that view and compromises the purpose for which calendars are designed.
Remember: calendars are for blocking time. Tasks are for doing.
What do you think? If you believe tasks belong on the calendar when they have a definite due date, give me your reasons why. Or tell me why you agree that tasks shouldn’t be on the calendar.
Photo by -Ebelien-. Licensed under Creative Commons.
3 Comments
Amber
I’m struggling with this because my planner has a monthly view and weekly pages. I use the monthly page as intended, but I’m not sure what to do with the weekly pages. I’ve been writing my to do list items there, but I forget to check them. To me, writing my calendar commitments twice seems redundant, and my schedule isn’t busy enough to need more than the space provided in the monthly boxes. What do you suggest?
LJ Earnest
My thought is that rather than bending your process to fit your planner, use your planner to fit your process. If you don’t see a need to use the weekly pages, throw them out! Put in paper to use for task lists instead.
Amber
Good point! It’s a pre-printed Target planner, so I think I need to follow the advice in your DIY series and make my own! =)